Luther Creator Teases Idris Elba’s Return In Netflix Sequel

Looks like John Luther might not be done wrecking expensive overcoats. After a quiet stretch following 2023's Netflix movie 'Luther: The Fallen Sun', creator Neil Cross just gave the strongest nudge yet that Idris Elba will be back.

So... is Luther coming back?

Cross sat down for The Radio Times Writers' Room, the outlet's screenwriter-focused video series, and could barely hide it.

'There are extraordinarily strong possibilities you might see him again.'

'Is that the heaviest hint that's possible to give without Netflix sending a trained assassin around to silence me? Yeah, there's every chance you will meet him again.'

That is about as close to a confirmation as you get without a release date.

Where a sequel likely picks up

'The Fallen Sun' ended by dangling a very specific thread: Luther being courted by MI5. That tees up a bunch of new directions — spy-adjacent cases, bigger conspiracies, the whole thing. Cross has also been clear about the format. If Luther continues, it will be as films, not a return to the episodic TV series. In his words, that is where the character lives now.

Cross has been ready for a while

Back when 'The Fallen Sun' first dropped, Cross told RadioTimes.com he would jump back in to write another film in a heartbeat. He said they left the ending not just open a crack but fully open — basically an invitation. Translation: the plan was never to make this a one-and-done.

What else Cross is cooking

During the same chat, Cross touched on past work like 'Spooks', 'Doctor Who', and 'Hard Sun', and previewed his next show: 'The Iris Affair', a new Sky thriller led by Niamh Algar and Tom Hollander.

Algar plays Iris, a brilliant, closed-book type whom Hollander's character, entrepreneur Cameron Beck, recruits to wake up a powerful machine that could change humanity's future. She realizes that is a terrible idea, steals the journal with the activation sequence, and bolts — kicking off a chase across Italy.